Cab aggregators, tech companies are our frenemies: Bill Ford

Autonomous cars are for real, so are the issues associated with them. We have to sort out a lot of big questions before they get mass acceptance -insurance issues, ethical issues about breaking the law

NEW DELHI: Legendary Henry Ford, great grandfather of Bill Ford, revolutionised the car industry at the beginning of the twentieth century with the iconic 'Model T' that aimed at providing personal mobility for each individual.

A century later, Bill -chairman of the American auto major -faces dilemma of a different kind -the era of personal mobility is gradually being threatened by the concept of shared mobility, led by ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft and championed by tech majors like Google and Apple. Bill, however, finds an opportunity here, and call the New-Age providers more of `frenemies', who will be future partners and collaborators.

The auto industry has gone through many turning points over the past few decades, and now we are talking about connected vehicles and autonomous vehicles.

Many see manufacturers like Ford as old world companies and more of hardware providers for Silicon Valley companies like Google, Apple. Do you agree?Around 2011, the industry wasn't looking at mobility solutions, but now everybody is racing to invest in them. One thing we don't want to become is like the (mobile) handset where everybody brings in technology and we provide just the hardware. A few years ago, people have predicted that we would become the handset.

But now Silicon Valley has a much bigger appreciation for the intellectual property that we actually control -the amount of software development that we have done and integrate into a vehicle. There has also been an appreciation on how difficult it is to make a vehicle and provide the integration of all software. So, you will see a more of a partnership kind of an approach from tech companies towards us compared to what you would have seen till a couple of years ago.

Do you think in bigger cities the days of personal mobility are gone. Gradually people will move to shared infrastructure with Uber and other ride-sharing companies?I think the trend is in that direction. To say that it's gone, however, is an overstatement today .I feel there will be more of a (vehicle infrastructure) sharing environment in cities around the world. Outside of bigger cities, you will continue to see more of traditional ownership.

So, ride-sharing companies or tech ones like Google and Apple are not a threat?They could be a threat, but they can also be an ally . There is a term in the Silicon Valley called `frenemies'. They can be your friends today , but tomorrow they can be your enemies. Some of the companies in fact will be frenemies, depending upon which issue we are talking about, and what problem we are trying to solve.

Are driverless cars for real? There are many issues like who takes the blame in case of a crash?Autonomous cars are for real, so are the issues associated with them. We have to sort out a lot of big questions before they get mass acceptance -insurance issues, ethical issues about breaking the law . Technology has got a lot of discussion but the decision-making underlining that technology requires a lot more attention.

How do you balance growth and sustainability . In terms of green vehicles, what is your solution -electric, fuelcell, hydrogen?I think all these have their place potentially , but of course the society can't accommodate all at once. Electrification probably makes the most sense, notwithstanding the fact that fuel cells are still worth working on. But, fuel cells are very expensive and very hard to manufacture. Hydrogen is petro-chemically derived and doesn't store well. The big caveat with electrification is that it doesn't make sense to electrify fleets and then have coal-fired electric plants.

What is the problem with Ford's India operations?India is a tough market. We brought European and American cars to India and struggled with that. We are localizing more of our business. So, we have a lot to learn about the Indian market to be successful.

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